Cerity Partners LLC Trims Stake in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

Cerity Partners LLC lowered its position in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) by 50.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,852 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 10,994 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in AGNC Investment were worth $106,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AGNC. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co bought a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 76.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,836 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096 shares during the period. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 66.8% in the third quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 6,066 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 2,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 110.8% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 6,377 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 3,352 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Compass Point assumed coverage on AGNC Investment in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $10.25 price target on the stock. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $9.79.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

AGNC opened at $9.15 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.36 billion, a PE ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.26 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The business’s 50-day moving average is $9.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.27. AGNC Investment Corp. has a 1 year low of $6.81 and a 1 year high of $10.64.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $642.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $568.38 million. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 32.12% and a return on equity of 27.92%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a apr 24 dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a yield of 15.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 158.24%.

Insider Transactions at AGNC Investment

In other news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.35, for a total value of $46,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 75,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $706,345.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

AGNC Investment Profile

AGNC Investment Corp., formerly American Capital Agency Corp., is a real estate investment trust. The Company invests in agency residential mortgage-backed securities on a leveraged basis. Its investments consist of residential mortgage pass-through securities and collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs) for which the principal and interest payments are guaranteed by a government-sponsored enterprise, such as the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), or by the United States Government agency, such as the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) (collectively, GSEs).